Insertion Reaction of Phenyl Isocyanate into the Ln−C σ-Bond of Organolanthanide Complexes: Synthesis, Characterization, and Crystal Structures of {(C5H4CH3)2Ln[μ-η1:η3-OC(R)NPh]}2 (Ln = Sm, Dy, Er, Ho; R = n-butyl, α-naphthyl)

Reactivity of Organolanthanide and Organolithium Complexes Containing the Guanidinate Ligands toward Isocyanate or Carbodiimide: Synthesis and Crystal Structures

The direct reactions of (C5H5)2LnCl with LiN=C(NMe2)2 proceeded at room temperature in THF under pure nitrogen to yield the lanthanocene guanidinate complexes [(C5H5)2Ln(mu-eta1:eta2-N=C(NMe2)2)]2 (Ln = Gd (1), Er (2)). Treatment of phenyl isocyanate with complexes 1 and 2 results in monoinsertion of phenyl isocyanate into the Ln-N(mu-Gua) bond to yield the corresponding insertion products [(C5H5)2Ln(mu-eta1:eta2-OC(N=C(NMe2)2)NPh)]2 (Ln = Gd (3), Er (4)), presenting the first example of unsaturated organic small molecule insertion into the metal-guanidinate ligand bond. Further investigations indicate that N,N'-diisopropylcarbodiimide does not react with complexes 1 and 2 under the same conditions; however, it readily inserts into the lithium-guanidinate ligand bond of LiN=C(NMe2)2. As a synthon of the insertion product Li[(iPrN)2C(N=C(NMe2)2)], its reaction with (C5H5)2LnCl gives the novel organolanthanide complexes containing the guanidinoacetamidinate ligand, (C5H5)2Ln[(iPrN)2C(N=C(NMe2)2)] (Ln = Yb (5), Er (6), Dy (7)). All complexes were characterized by elemental analysis and spectroscopic properties. The structures of complexes 1, 3, 5 and 7 were determined through X-ray single-crystal diffraction analysis.

Selective O2 oxidation of air-sensitive lanthanocene thiolates and thioether chelate

Two unusual regioselective O2 oxidation reactions of air-sensitive lanthanocene thiolates and a thioether chelate are described, revealing a novel oxygenation pattern of thiolate ligands.